Oliver North

Oliver North (7 October 1943-) was a US Marine Corps colonel who was involved in selling weapons to both Iran and the Contras during the 1980s under Ronald Reagan's administration. North's illegal actions led to the Iran-Contra Affair, which deeply damaged the United States' prestige.

Biography
Oliver North was born on 7 October 1943 in San Antonio, Texas, but he grew up in New York. In 1963, he attended the United States Naval Academy and became a Lieutenant in 1968, and he commanded a platoon of US Marine Corps troops during the Vietnam War, earning two Purple Hearts, one Silver Star, and one Bronze Star for his actions. In 1971 he was promoted to captain and stationed on Okinawa, and in 1981 a newly-created Lieutenant-Colonel North served on President Ronald Reagan's National Security Council. He managed a number of missions, including the hunt for senior Hezbollah leaders during the Lebanese Civil War, the invasion of Grenada, and the bombing of Libya, and he was also involved in clandestine operations in Lebanon and Nicaragua. In 1985, he came forth with pictures taken by convicted drug smuggler Barry Seal that proved that communist governments allowed narcotics traffickers such as Pablo Escobar to refuel on their soil, leading to Seal's murder by the Medellin Cartel and increased pressure on the communists. That same year, he was put on trial for illegally selling arms to Iran and Nicaragua, and he spent three years in prison from 1987 to 1990. Afterwards, he had a failed political career with the US Republican Party, and he became a political commentator.